Faculty have been attending meetings about bargaining on every CFA campus to interact with CFA Officers and Bargaining Team members about the process and issues in negotiating the faculty’s next contract.

This weekly CFA Headlines feature offers a brief “faculty rights tip” or short information piece about the faculty contract.

WORKLOAD

Article 20 of our Collective Bargaining Agreement covers workload. One key provision for instructional faculty is Article 20.3(a) because it provides that members of the bargaining unit shall not be required to teach an excessive number of contact hours, assume an excessive student load, or be assigned an unreasonable workload or schedule.

Promoters of MOOCs and online courses make big promises about the value of this latest trend in higher education. Going online will, we are told, expand access to higher education and reduce its costs for just about everyone.

Behind these big promises, however, lie some harsh realities.

To foster a fuller, more honest discussion about MOOCs, the frenzied rush to online, and the future of America’s colleges and universities, the Campaign for the Future of Higher Education releases tomorrow the first of three working papers.

Faculty organizations across the U.S., including on CSU campuses, are preparing for a week of panels, movie showings, lectures and more to organize and speak out on issues undermining higher education on our campuses.

CFA President Lillian Taiz said, “The challenges to our public higher education system are not unique to California. We need to team up with faculty organizations all over the country because we are stronger in asserting our voice together.

Open enrollment for CalPERS healthcare plans is underway now through this Friday, October 11. During this time, new faculty members can choose a health plan for themselves and their families and continuing faculty can make changes.

The CFA-endorsed candidates for Member-At-Large seats on the CalPERS Board of Administration—Joseph (J.J.) Jelincic and Michael Bilbrey—were re-elected by strong margins according to preliminary results released late last week. Their four-year terms begin January 16.

More than 140,000 eligible CalPERS active and retired members, which include eligible CSU faculty, voted in the election.

CSU, student employees agree to modest pay raise
California State University and nearly 7,700 student employees have reached a tentative agreement that would bring the workers modest raises over the next three years. — Long Beach Press Telegram